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Chapter Begins:
Sakura felt like there was a hole inside her.
This hole had fangs. Sharp. Pointy. Bitter. Cruel.
They were gnashing on her flesh from the inside, making unbearable, screechy noises.
Suddenly, tiny forms made of blackness appeared around her and began dancing. It was as if they were worshiping her very existence.
Her white hair flailed wildly as her red pupils landed on them.
Her red and black dress glitched, as if her figure was present at many places at once.
Sakura's neck twisted as she followed the strange, tiny figures' dance, an unreal cracking noise echoing out of her bones.
She held her stomach, feeling the hole within, and grinned. "Hehe…" Blackness boiled around her, red and black bolts of lightning rumbling in her surroundings. "Hehehe… I know what it is… I know what it is…"
Sakura walked brokenly forward.
She walked past the Saber Alter, dutifully guarding her Master.
She walked, stumbled, and got up, holding her stomach all the while.
Then, slowly, grinning like a maniac, Sakura lifted her gaze off the tiny, dancing things and looked at the skeleton seated on a throne in front of her.
"I need to eat her!" Sakura declared. "I need to fill this hole… Then… Shirou wouldn't hate me anymore… All my sins will be forgiven… All!"
Ainz Ooal Gown looked at the broken Character and sighed to himself.
Deep underground the Fuyuki City, deeper than one would think or could imagine, he had created this base, hiding the All Evil with him.
If there weren't any limitations on it, then he would have felt better taking the girl away with him, perhaps to a different dimension as well.
However, the Greater Grail was rooted in Fuyuki City. Not only in this, but in all timelines. That's why the Servants couldn't go far from Fuyuki City itself, despite having the power to do so.
For him to meet all his objectives in this timeline, he also needed to follow the rules, no matter how absurd it sounded, Ainz knew.
Sigh… Inwardly, he let out a sigh, shaking his head. If I knew things would turn out like this, I would have allowed Albedo to follow me…
Suddenly, with a slow, burning hiss, the shadow under Sakura's feet bulged.
In an instant, it bloomed on the ground, crawling under all and everything.
Thin, red-edged black tendrils shot out of the blackness and lunged at Ainz Ooal Gown.
This blackness wasn't just a shadow — it was the Black Mud — the source of All Evil's corruption.
These black tendrils weren't just the arms of Black Mud, either.
One mere touch of these could corrupt any Servant — uprooting their entire existence.
However, the moment these tendrils, a physical representative of Angra Mainyu's Will, touched Ainz Ooal Gown, they bounced off.
"Rest it," the Overlord said, redness glowing behind the black cruciforms embedded in his eyes. "These tricks will not work on me. That's why I allowed myself to fall under these restrictions…"
In front of him, with her hundredth attack failing, Sakura held her stomach and fell to her knees, coughing out a bucketful of blood.
Saber Alter blinked next to her and raised her weapon high, readying herself to smite down the enemy.
For the first time, Ainz Ooal Gown stood up, the Staff appearing in his left hand.
However, the command that the corrupted Saber was waiting for never arrived.
"Keke…" Sakura let out a blood grin. "I know what it is… I know what it is… I need to eat her…"
She's gone completely mad… Ainz Ooal Gown thought, confirming his doubt. Getting separated from her true self, becoming an Evil entity, and fueling itself on other Evil Servants must have hurt her Origin. No wonder she's lacking… Hmm…
Ainz Ooal Gown couldn't finish his thoughts.
Right behind Sakura and Saber Alter, where the blackness under her feet stood blacker than ever, a green mote of light blinked into existence.
Suddenly, a tiny sapling sprouted from the green mote of light.
Neither Saber Alter nor Ainz Ooal Gown, despite the exhaustive list of unmatchable powers available to them, could react fast enough against the growth of this sapling.
In a fraction of a fraction of a second, the green sapling became a large lotus.
The lotus bloomed and out came Enkidu — the Ruler-Class Servant summoned by the Counter Force.
Oh, shit! Ainz Ooal Gown cursed, the gems on his Staff already glowing.
On the other side, Saber Alter didn't need a command to attack this enemy, either. A humongous amount of red and black Mana boiled around her as she poured everything into her sword.
"Ex —"
On the lotus, Enkidu slowly opened her eyes, his green gaze landing on Sakura.
"— Caliber!"
The power behind Saber Alter's Noble Phantasm was so much that it tore through everything. A massive pillar of red-blackness tunneled through dozens of miles-thick layers of earth, shot out into the atmosphere, and disappeared into the sky.
All over the city, from one Master to another, from one Servant to all, everyone's heads snapped in that direction.
Deep into the earth, standing in a massive crater, was Saber Alter with Sakura kneeled behind her, holding her stomach, giggling to herself.
There was a gigantic black hole above their heads as even the light didn't reach them from above, making it impossible to see the sky despite it being a through-and-through tunnel.
Nothing could have remained alive after being attacked with such power.
However, as the dust settled, and as Ainz Ooal Gown appeared behind Sakura, a pink-green glow crawled in their eyes.
It was a set of seven petals, one larger than the next, blooming magnificently midair.
Suddenly, six of the seven petals shattered, letting them see Enkidu standing leisurely behind the rest of the four.
"Well done," Enkidu praised, smiling. "None has pushed my Rho Aias to such an extent, other than Gil. Now that you have made your move —"
Just like the blackness around Sakura, green and gold crawled out of the Ruler, a forest sprouting in his surroundings.
On the earth, on the broken walls, everywhere, golden circles manifested, bubbling with Mana.
Chains slithered out of those golden circles, along with thousands of Noble Phantasm-like weapons.
And Enkidu took a step forward, taking a deep breath. "— It's my turn…"
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